This one could have easily gone the other way.
Leading 3-2 in the top of the sixth, Milwaukee Brewers starter Freddy Peralta had Red Sox rookie Triston Casas down 0-2 in the count with two outs. Peralta had been terrific all evening, with a two-run home run by Alex Verdugo the only real blemish on his line, but Casas battled back and drew a walk to end Peralta’s day and give the Red Sox a small opening.
Unlike so many times over the past year, they wouldn’t let this chance slip away.
Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran delivered back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game and take the lead, and the Red Sox throttled the Brewers from there to pick up one of their most impressive wins of the young season, 5-3.
“You never know who it’s going to be,” Verdugo told NESN’s Jahmai Webster after the game. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in the starting lineup or coming off the bench, we expect everybody to be ready and contribute and today was just another example of that.”
Coming in at 14-5 and first place in the NL Central, the Brewers have been among the best teams in baseball to start the year. Yet Friday night the Red Sox went into their house and looked every bit as good.
This one had all the ingredients the Red Sox have been searching for.
Nick Pivetta came within an out of giving the Red Sox their fourth quality start in the past week, five if you count Kutter Crawford’s 6 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen on Monday. Pivetta pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowed three runs and struck out seven while only walking one.
The offense came up big with timely hits in key spots. After Verdugo’s third-inning home run and Refsnyder and Duran’s rally, the Red Sox added another in the seventh when Masataka Yoshida ripped an RBI double the other way to score Justin Turner, who had just walked on four pitches after the Brewers initially got two quick outs to start the frame.
“We like to move the line, that’s the most important thing,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Everything started with the walks, with Casas, JT in front of Masa, that’s part of the offense, grind at bats, create traffic and hopefully good things happen.”
Finally, the bullpen came up with the kind of shutdown performance the Red Sox rarely got in this kind of game last year. Josh Winckowski threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings while stranding runners at the corners in the eighth to preserve the two-run lead, and then Kenley Jansen came on to lock down his fifth save of the season.
For reference, three Red Sox pitchers tied for the team lead with eight saves all of last year.
With the win the Red Sox are now 6-2 in their last eight games and 11-10 on the season. Considering that seven of Boston’s 10 losses have come against Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, teams that are currently a combined 31-9, the Red Sox may be in better position than it initially seemed.
Are the Red Sox for real? A second straight series win against a first-place club would go a long way towards telling us.
Garrett Whitlock (1-1, 4.50 ERA) will get the start for Boston on Saturday against Milwaukee’s Wade Miley (2-1, 1.50), and Brayan Bello (0-1, 16.88) will make his second start of the season in Sunday’s finale against former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes (2-1, 4.76).
First pitch Saturday will be 7:10 p.m.
